Catalan Autonomy-Building Process in Immigration Policy: Conceptual, Institutional and Normative Dimensions

Abstract

This chapter illustrates a particular case of territorial autonomy for stateless nations and the process of autonomy building in conditions of globalization and population mobility — that of Catalonia within Spain. This is partly a matter of the distribution of competences between Catalonia and Spain, but that is not the only question, since in this book we are also concerned with the way that autonomy might contribute to both stability and justice in divided societies. These two objectives are inseparable in practice, producing interplay between efficiency and identity criteria. Migration, initially from the rest of Spain but now from other parts of the world, has opened up debate on the issue of who is Catalan and what conditions must be met. Catalonia has sought to establish its own approach based on Catalan identity and language, but this clashes with the predominant Spanish approach of a single nation. The distribution of competences between the two levels of government assigns immigration policy to the State, but many of the instruments of integration are in the hands of the autonomous community. Migration and integration policies, which did not feature in the original Spanish constitution or autonomy statutes, have thus become a matter of intergovernmental contention. Today, the issue of immigration highlights long-standing challenges related to national identity and religion (Zapata-Barrero 2010a).